Tag: demons

Trust and Ballroom (Write31Days Day 29)

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Fun fact: yesterday was my 100th post on the Girl with the Tree Tattoo! I was so tired last night that I didn’t realize it until WordPress sent me a notification. The website has only been up for about 8 months. I’m feeling accomplished!

There are only a few days left of the writing challenge. I sincerely hope you’ve enjoyed the daily writings, and if you’re new to the site, I hope you’ll stick around after this challenge ends. Don’t expect any new activity on November 1 though! Honestly, I’m ready for a break.

Today I wanted to talk about trust and its critical role in ballroom dancing.

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To Teach or Not to Teach (Write31Days Day 27)

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I had no idea what to write for today. I had a list of topics, but none of them were speaking to me. Then I took a phone call, and inspiration finally came to me.

And then it left, right after I wrote “inspiration finally came to me.”

Clearly, something is blocking my creative flow (stress, maybe!). Well, since I already wrote the title, I’ll do my best to put something together. If it doesn’t work out well, you can always catch up on the rest of my posts for the 31 Day Writing Challenge!

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Ballroom Team Match and Being a Spectator (Write31Days Day 25)

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I know I said I would expand on the wonderful effects that ballroom can have on you today. But if you’ll pardon the delay, I attended my studio’s team match yesterday and was inspired in a different direction. I promise I’ll get back to ballroom effects tomorrow.

Yesterday wasn’t my first team match; I’ve attended at least four. The big difference yesterday was I wasn’t dancing, only watching.

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Try Again Tomorrow (Write31Days Day 13)

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Today’s post isn’t specifically about ballroom dancing.  I’ll be honest; I had a cold/stress-induced mental block.  Didn’t I just write about self care and not letting the stress get to me as much on Day 10?  I have a list of ideas to write about for the entire month, but I just couldn’t get moving on any of them.

But then the thought that I needed to go back and reread Day 10’s post led me to a topic for today.
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The Klutzy Ballroom Dancer (Write31Days Day 10)

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I put Looney Tunes on this morning as background while I worked on today’s post.  Sometimes I really miss the old classic Saturday morning cartoons.  Looney Tunes were the best!  Yes, incredibly violent, but also brilliant!  What led me to Looney Tunes was noting the number of bruises I’m currently sporting on my legs: one on my left knee, one on my right shin, one on my left ankle, and two on my right ankle.  I’m like a slapstick character, get it?

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Express Yourself! In the Studio Vs. the Club (Write31Days Day 4)

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It’s funny, I made a list of topics for this 31-day challenge, but have yet to actually follow that list.  One post just leads me to another post.  But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that things aren’t going as planned.  When do they ever?

Last year, I started a series on my first blog, The Uphill Factor, titled “Express Yourself!”  Teacher was starting to bring up the need for more emotional expression from me while I was dancing, and naturally, I wrote about my struggles:

Express Yourself!
Express Yourself! Part 2 – Tango Curses
Express Yourself! Part 3 – Butt and Boobs
Express Yourself! Part 4: No, Really, Express Yourself!

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Dear DWTS Contestants: Welcome to Ballroom! (Write31Days Day 2)

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After some exciting progress with my writing, from publishing my first eBook to getting another article published on Dance Advantage, I took a break on Monday night to watch Week 3 of Dancing with the Stars.  It seemed like it was a challenging week for the various celebrities as they started to realize that the show was actually a competition and they actually needed to learn and dance ballroom if they were going to stay.  And ballroom dancing is hard!

All of the demons started coming out, and I heard so many things that sounded so familiar!  “I’ve been abandoned before, I’m scared, I’m not sexy, I can’t do this, why can’t I get this right?!”  People were having trouble connecting with their pro partners and feeling uncomfortable with the close physical contact. Someone even brought up the blurry line that is the pro-am relationship (teacher or friend?).  I couldn’t help myself; I had to write about it.

First, to all of the remaining Dancing with the Stars contestants, I would like to say welcome!

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